The town was quiet; nothing was heard except for the occasional sounds of the animals from outside. The residents of the household were sitting at the table going through an old photo album. With much care, she slowly turned the worn out page to an old black and white photo of her and her mother. The photo brought her back in time where she was a newborn being held in her mother’s arms. The woman gently touched the photo of her much younger self and started to weep. The gentleman sitting beside her knew all too well the cause of her reaction. He knew that he couldn’t give her a child of their own; one of the things she so desperately wanted.
He put his arm around her shoulder to console her. Directly after her sobering face fell into his chest, the house shook from an explosion that sounded not too far off. Family pictures that were draped on the wall fell abruptly and scattered glass as they hit the floor. The sounds of fear came from the animals which grew intensively louder by the minute.
The man let the woman free and raced over to the window. He saw fire off in the distance and looked up at the night sky to see it lit with fiery objects falling down on the town below. With each hit to the ground came a sound of a boom and the spread of wild fire. His wife soon joined him at the window to see what appeared to be a never ending meteor shower. Noticing the fear in her eyes, he grabbed his wife’s hand with his own that was shaking and ran her out the front door and out to the storm cellar.
On their way, they were dodging balls of debris caught on fire. The two were thrown to the ground by a meteorite that smacked the earth just a few feet away. Hearing his wife scream, he got her on her feet and safely underground. He took one more look at the night sky before he closed the cellar door, and he noticed the tail end of a plane that was also caught on fire that was coming down fast. Without waiting to see where it would hit, he quickly locked the doors above him.
After an endless night of destruction, they woke up to silence. The man looked at the cellar’s wooden door and noticed sunlight that crept through the cracks. He stood up to walk over to the door. Feeling pain, he realized that he didn’t even know that he had sprained his ankle in all the commotion. Unlocking the door and coming out slowly, he looked around to see what was left of all that he knew was normal. His land and the land near by looked like the surface of the moon. Craters big and small now covered the surrounding area. At ground level, it was the first time he could see all the way to the center of town. He of course couldn’t make out all the details but saw buildings and factories that were now devastated and barely erect. Over to his left, his house and barn were somehow still standing. Looking over to his right, he saw a half naked baby boy not much more than a year old just as dirty as he was. He rubbed is eyes to make sure he was actually seeing this, but he watched as the baby boy took a few steps then fell to his hands and knees. He noticed the boy crawling away from a glimmering metallic grey object where his field should have been just a few yards away. And further beyond the glimmer, he saw the wing of a plane.
________________________________________________________________
A man opened his eyes and touched his right temple to find the pain. He looked at his fingers and noticed blood on the tips. In shock he stood up to look for help, but dizziness caused him to fall back down. Shortly thereafter, he remembered his four year old son was also on board. On his hands and knees, he lifted up all the broken seats and searched under luggage and baggage calling out his name. With his ears still ringing, he could make out someone shouting from outside the wreckage. While tripping over bags and seats, he managed to walk to the door of the plane.
Nervously, he looked around and saw the smoke getting thicker and the fire getting closer. He started to panic and couldn’t get the door open. Banging and pounding on the door screaming for help, he again heard the same voice from the opposite side. Without notice, the door instantly opened and fell to the ground.
The rescuer told the man that his name was Frederick and asked if there was anyone else left alive. The man informed Frederick that his son, Alexander, was missing and that he was already very sick. While they continued to look for him, his father mentioned that Alexander had just finished a treatment of chemotherapy two days ago. He rationalized with himself that his son was too weak to travel but couldn’t leave him alone with only his staff while he was away on business.
Covered with dirt and corn crops, Frederick found the boy. Frederick wanted to pick up the boy but felt sick as he got closer to him. So, he called for the boy’s father who came running over. Frederick and the man looked down at Alexander with great concern, for both of them noticed a golf ball sized meteor partially protruding from the boy’s skull.
Making their way to the collapsed civilization, they noticed an ambulance heading in their direction. The medical vehicle stopped and gave them a ride to the hospital. On approach to the hospital, they were all relieved to find it fully intact and operational. Patients were spread throughout the lobby covered in dirt and blood. Doctors and nurses were running around frantic to find any extra available rooms.
Hours later, a doctor came and explained Alexander’s improved situation to them. The man couldn’t have been more excited except for when the doctor informed him that he safely removed the meteor from the boy’s skull and that there wasn’t any scarring. Hesitating and with an expression of great concern, the physician then added that after running a number of tests, he and other top specialists couldn’t find any traces of the boy’s cancer.
Seventeen years later…402Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEVDHk9OTFT
